Why Natural Gas is a Bridge to Nowhere

Though the president and federal Environmental Protection Agency are on the brink of issuing new rules for existing coal-fired power plants , a Cornell University professor says natural gas deserves a bit of attention, too. Robert Howarth has maintained for three years that natural gas was capable of emitting more greenhouse gases than coal. Now, the professor of ecology and evolutionary biology has new research to back it up. Published in the Energy Science & Engineering journal this month, “A bridge to nowhere: methane emissions and the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas” also argues that natural gas emits more greenhouse gases than oil and other fuels in both residential and commercial usage. The main reason? Methane comprises about 75 percent of natural gas. Coal gets all the attention for the carbon it emits at power plants, but natural gas is even worse, a Corne...